These are the archives from my journalspace blog, which no longer exists because journalspace lost everything in December 2008 BUT I AM NOT BITTER.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Many are called, few are chosen

posted Sun, 10 Dec 2006

I have finally figured out that I am one of the worker bees and not the chief and that is a beautiful thing! Yes, it really is! You know why? Because when you are the lowest person on the totem pole, not only is it completely OK to mix metaphors, but it is also not your responsibility to solve the hard problems.

I used to be one of the in-charge, go-to persons. The one they called when something didn’t work. I was the one who had to fix things. Who had to solve problems. Who had to soothe ruffled feathers, who had to make people happy again, who had to figure out why the stupid program wasn’t working, who had to work through lunch so that a customer could get an order in.

Now instead of being the one who is called, I am the one who calls.

And I like it. At first, I was trying to figure things out by myself. Customers would ask me questions to which I honestly didn’t have the answer. They’d show me an ad and ask where this leather jacket was. Ummm…. Maybe in Moderates? There would be some mysterious code on the register and I didn’t know what to do next. Clear, void, hit all keys in an attempt to solve but to no avail.

Ha. Now I know the secret. Something happens and I can’t figure out the solution within ten seconds, I call a manager.

It’s that simple. I kick the problem upstairs.

I love it.

I smile at the customer and say sweetly, “Ma’am, let me call a manager. He’ll know what to do.” And then I do it. Either I get the answer over the phone or he comes over and solves the problem. Or not. But now the customer has someone else to be mad at. And while she fumes, the manager will do something like gives her a 50% discount and then she’s not so upset.